Latest news with #Leontyev
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Doc Talk Podcast With ‘Porcelain War' Directors Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev Before They Head To The Oscars
It is one of the sad ironies of war that even as it lays waste to countries, conflict on that scale can lead to great works of cinema. The brutal civil war in Syria resulted in several Oscar-nominated documentary features – Last Men in Aleppo and The Cave, both directed by Feras Fayyad; Of Fathers and Sons, directed by Talal Derki; and For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts. More from Deadline Oscar Nominations: 'Emilia Pérez' Leads With 13; 'The Brutalist' And 'Wicked' Score 10 Apiece In Wide-Open Race The 2025 Oscars: Everything We Know So Far About The Nominations, Ceremony, Date & Host Shiori Itō's Oscar-Nominated 'Black Box Diaries' Has Been Embraced Around The World. So Why Isn't It Being Seen In Her Native Japan? The war in Ukraine, too, is being documented powerfully by nonfiction filmmakers: the Oscar-shortlisted In the Rearview, directed by Maciek Hamela; the Oscar-winning 20 Days in Mariupol, directed by Mstyslav Chernov; and now the Oscar-nominated feature documentary Porcelain War. On the new edition of Deadline's Doc Talk podcast, Porcelain War directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev discuss their film, which won the DGA Award on February 8 and is being honored with a screening at The Hague on Thursday before an audience of diplomats. The filmmakers explain how they made a documentary hailed as a masterpiece despite never having directed a film before, and with a cinematographer who had never shot a film before. RELATED: Porcelain War revolves around Leontyev and his wife, Anya Stasenko, artists who collaborate on stunning figures made of porcelain. Slava sculpts the artworks, while Anya dedicates herself to painting the owls, 'dragonlets' and other creatures with intricate designs. Bellomo shares the story of how Slava and his future wife Anya met (it involved her pushing him around in a baby carriage). Like so many Ukrainians, Leontyev has become a citizen soldier in defense of his country, training members of his military unit in the proper use of weapons. In his spare time, he continues to pursue his art, which Leontyev describes as a form of resistance to Russian aggression. RELATED: That's on the latest episode of Doc Talk, co-hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline's documentary editor. Doc Talk is produced by Deadline and Ridley's Nō Studio. Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple. RELATED: 'Porcelain War': Extraordinary Ukrainian Artists Resist Russia's Invasion With Weapons, Brushes And Sculptor's Tools – Sundance Studio Best of Deadline 2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Tonys, Guilds & More How To Watch Sunday's 'SNL50: The Anniversary Special' Online & On TV Everything We Know About Christopher Nolan's Next Film – 'The Odyssey': Release Date, Cast And More
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Academy Award-Nominated ‘Porcelain War' To Screen At The Hague As Final Oscar Voting Nears Close
Porcelain War heads into the final days of Oscar voting with considerable momentum. The documentary set in wartime Ukraine won the DGA Award last weekend, honoring the work of directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev. Bellomo is set to attend the Cinema for Peace Foundation's prestigious Gala Awards Ceremony in Berlin on Monday, where the film is nominated for 'Most Valuable Documentary of the Year.' And on Thursday, a special screening of Porcelain War will be held at The Hague in the Netherlands. More from Deadline 'No Other Land' Directors Denounce Trump Gaza Takeover Plan: "It Is So Irresponsible, It's So Immoral" In Oscar-Nominated 'Incident,' Body-Cam Footage Shatters Police Account Of Black Man's Shooting Death Doc Talk Podcast Talks Oscars With Nominees Smriti Mundhra And Molly O'Brien 'The Hague event is expected to attract numerous high-level guests, including multiple ambassadors, ministry representatives, the Dutch Special Envoy for Ukraine, members of parliament, European Commission representatives, and cultural leaders,' notes a release. Bellomo commented, 'At a time when global distractions abound, we are deeply honored to have these opportunities to remind audiences of the realities facing the people of Ukraine. The ongoing tragedy experienced by civilians, as highlighted in our film, demands continued attention…' The Cinema for Peace Foundation's gala and The Hague screening come as the war in Ukraine is set to enter its fourth year, on February 24. Porcelain War documents artists Leontyev and his wife, Anya Stasenko, who combine their gifts to craft stunning figures out of porcelain (Leontyev sculpts them and Stasenko paints them in intricate detail). But after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Slava was compelled to devote much of his energy to the defense of his country, training soldiers in weaponry. 'I still worked on porcelain when I had time for this, because this is our life,' Leontyev explained in a new interview with Deadline. 'It's a way to bring ourselves back to a normal state of mind in these stressful times.' Leontyev and Bellomo had known each other before the full-scale invasion. After Russian tanks stormed the border and missiles rained down on much of Ukraine in what Russian Pres. Putin euphemistically termed a 'special military operation,' Bellomo got in touch with his friend and they discussed a possible cinematic collaboration. 'When Brenda called me, it was an amazing opportunity for us to share our very personal experience,' Leontyev recalled, 'and show all these amazing actions around us and show the beauty with this amazing people, my friends from my [military] unit, beauty of people in darkest of times and humanity that still exists. It was important. And we just started work.' Bellomo got a camera to Leontyev to begin the filming process. 'I asked him, 'Do you know anyone who could just press record on the tripod with the camera? If you guys are in the scene?'' Bellomo said. 'And he says, 'I know someone.'' That someone turned out to be Andrey Stefanov, a painter and longtime friend of Leontyev and Stasenko's who did not have any experience as a cinemtographer. Leontyev sent Bellomo images of the artist's work. 'He sends me this folder of oil paintings, photographs of these masterworks… I was physically moved by this,' Bellomo said. 'To have a painter of that emotional ability who understands light and composition, he knew where to put his canvas. And I said, 'This is a cinematographer. He's just not a camera operator.' And you can teach that, but you can't teach somebody to be a cinematographer.' Porcelain War weaves between images of battle and pastoral scenes shot in the Ukrainian countryside, sometimes showing Leontyev and Stasenko walking with their beloved dog Frodo, an endearing presence in the film. The moments in nature aren't simply interludes in the film but subtly communicate all that is being lost to Russia's unprovoked aggression. 'We really love nature, and this nature is so fragile,' Leontyev noted. 'During the war, so many of our national parks and national forests burned because of shelling. And now these forests are mined by the landmines. Ukraine now is [the most mined] territory in the whole world… [It will take] hundreds of years of work to clear all these territories. And because of this, we were so focused on this fragile beauty and really filmed every piece of nature like if it was last day.' On Wednesday, Pres. Trump phoned Putin, later reporting that they had agreed to holds talking on a peace settlement in Ukraine. The president's apparent concession to Russian wishes and terms has been labeled 'appeasement' by many of the United States' ostensible allies. The Trump administration has sent mixed messages about whether it would even allow Ukraine to participate in negotiations meant to decide its fate. But Ukrainians remain resolute in defense of their territory and culture. Art, Porcelain War makes clear, is part of that resistance. 'The idea wasn't just that they were choosing to pick up weapons,' Bellomo says of Leontyev, Stasenko and Stefanov. 'The idea was they're choosing to make art. The opposite of war is not tranquility and peace. The opposite of war is creativity, creation, community, these concepts that are rebuilding, that are restorative, that are bringing people together. And I thought that's an unexpected miracle that those are the choices that they're making.' Best of Deadline How To Watch The 'SNL50' Anniversary Concert And Three-Hour Special This Weekend Everything We Know About Christopher Nolan's Next Film – 'The Odyssey': Release Date, Cast And More 'Bridgerton' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Oscar-Nominated Doc ‘Porcelain War' Uses Art to Show Ukraine's Fighting Spirit
Nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, 'Porcelain War' is a poignant, enriching film about the power of creativity in conflict zones. The film traces the making of vibrant ceramic figurines by two dedicated artists in the nation of Ukraine, which is now approaching its fourth year of warfare since Russia's military invasion. Directors Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, along with producer Paula DuPré Pesman, joined TheWrap's Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman for a post-screening Q&A on Thursday night in Los Angeles that was part of our ongoing Screening Series. In addition to co-directing, Leontyev is also a subject of the documentary. An artist and former soldier of the Ukrainian Special Forces, he lives with his wife Anya Stasenko in a rural area outside Crimea. They both create objects of beauty, such as the delicate porcelain dolls that came to symbolize the fragility of life during war. 'From the very beginning, [Anya and I] decided we'll never be focused on destruction,' Leontyev said during the discussion. 'We'll never be focused on violence because it's senseless to bring audiences extra news footage. We'll be focused on personal experience and on beauty. All the devastation looked the same. All these crumbled buildings looked the same.' Leontyev pointed out the metaphors of nature and art — from dandelions to snails without shells — to tell a touching story of Ukraine's fight and resilience. 'We felt we were the eyes of our project, we were the people on the ground,' he said. 'And we looked around really attentively, because all is so fragile during the war. And we filmed every flower, every huge forest or building or person. We filmed [it] all like it was the last day of the existence because all is fragile and nobody knows who will survive for tomorrow.' At the screening, the filmmakers also brought along porcelain pieces, such as the ones featured in the documentary, for the audience to see: In terms of the logistics of making a film in Ukraine, Colorado-based co-director Bellomo addressed the complex chain of Zoom calls and networking that went into the endeavor. 'We began with the first of many challenges: How do you bring a camera into a war zone?' Bellomo said. 'It's not like you could just ship something which reliably gets FedExed right there to the front line. We discovered there was a network of volunteers and it was actually a makeup artist from New Jersey who was stockpiling duffel bags of medical supplies, 50, 60 at a time, 3,000 pounds.' Bellomo used the makeup artist's freight expertise and also set up an 'impromptu film school' with Leontyev and the film's cinematographer Andrey Stefanov, also a member of Ukraine's special forces. 'That was so that [Leontyev and Stefanov] could take their artistic instincts and translate them into cinema,' Bellomo said. 'And in this time [Leontyev] and I, we would start sketching, and these sketches became storyboards and diagrams, ideas for shots. We looked at paintings, sculptures and pieces of cinema that we loved and we realized we're fluent in the same language in visual art and so we had this very rich collaboration.' Expressing the message of the film, Bellomo added, 'The opposite of war is not peace and tranquility, it's creativity. And when they're choosing to seek out beauty, to be inspired by it and to create more, that is an act of resistance of creative resistance.' And to that point, Leontyev addressed the war in Ukraine today, acknowledging that a new administration in the White House might likely lead to changing dynamics around the conflict, but that his country will persist. 'Ukraine still can fight against Russia — and Ukraine only,' he said, adding that Vladimir Putin has resorted to dragging North Korean soldiers onto the front lines. 'They really need help from Korea. They are using pretty old Korean weapons and ammunition and even soldiers. They really need help. Maybe they will get help from the President of the United States, but it's not our issue. We [are] already OK. Ukraine is strong.' For the full video, including the filmmakers' wild story of acquiring music for the movie's soundtrack from Ukrainian folk band DakhaBrakha, click here. The post How Oscar-Nominated Doc 'Porcelain War' Uses Art to Show Ukraine's Fighting Spirit appeared first on TheWrap.
The Guardian
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The camera is more impactful than a rifle': the married Ukrainian artists who filmed the war – and are now up for an Oscar
The exhausted couple speaking over video from Los Angeles do not look like typical Oscar nominees. The tiredness etched on their faces is not from late nights partying or long days networking. It looks more like the weight of the world on their shoulders. Anya Stasenko and Slava Leontyev are ceramics artists from the frontline Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. They have been married for decades and work together, making beautifully intricate painted porcelain beasts no bigger than your fist. When Russian troops invaded in 2022, rather than fleeing, the couple stayed in Kharkiv. Leontyev was a weapons instructor in the Ukrainian special forces, a weapons instructor who trained civilian volunteers. Then he picked up a camera and shot a documentary, Porcelain War. When the film premiered at Sundance in January 2024, the couple flew to the US, expecting to stay for a month. Then, to everyone's surprise, Porcelain War won the festival's top documentary prize. The couple have spent the past year in the US raising awareness for Ukraine. 'We never planned to be here such a long time and we really need to get back as soon possible,' says Leontyev. They are based in Denver, but spend most of their time travelling with the film. Do they ever feel a sense of guilt about being away from Ukraine so long? Leontyev shakes his head. 'I never felt guilty, but I really miss people.' He talks about his unease when he started making the documentary while still serving. 'When I picked up my camera, someone had to pick up a rifle in my place, literally. I cannot explain. I felt … not guilty, but something was wrong.' One day, Leontyev asked his unit commander for her honest opinion. 'She said to me: 'Your camera is a powerful weapon. More impactful than a rifle.' It was only possible to make this movie because my unit completely supported us.' So far, the unit has had no fatalities. 'It is a miracle,' he says. We are talking without an interpreter. Last January, Stasenko and Leontyev arrived in the US unable to speak English. In a year, they have gone from zero to conversational. Leontyev is apologetic. 'Our English is not so perfect,' he grins. 'The grammar is absent!' At this point, a little scrap of fur pokes its head up from his wife's lap. It's Frodo, the couple's terrier, another star of the film. Frodo is barking at an aeroplane. 'He thinks every aeroplane is a military aeroplane. He chases them away,' says Leontyev, looking at his wife. They smile at each other. Stasenko and Leontyev have known each other since childhood. There is a photograph in Porcelain War of Stasenko pushing her future husband down the street in an old-fashioned pram (she is a few years older than him). They got together at art school in the 1980s in what was still Soviet Ukraine. In 1991, they were students when the Soviet Union collapsed. 'It was interesting – and a hungry time,' says Leontyev. 'It's normal for students to hungry!' his wife points out. She wonders whether living through that moment prepared them for the war. 'It was a beautiful time. It did not look like the war. But our generation, we have this experience of broken rules all around. We understand that all around may fly away in a moment.' They eventually settled in Crimea, close to their friend Andrey Stefanov, a painter who is the cinematographer on Porcelain War. Then, in 2014, Russia invaded Crimea and they returned to Kharkiv. At this point, Leontyev started military training. 'We knew,' he says. 'Since the annexation of Crimea, we knew what kind of war would come to us.' The couple fill their film with the beauty of Ukraine's landscape. We also watch Stasenko paint – an act of resistance in the face of an aggressor aiming to obliterate a nation's identity. In his voiceover, Leontyev compares porcelain to Ukraine: 'Easy to break, impossible to destroy.' Porcelain War takes us to the Bakhmut frontline in footage shot by the civilian soldiers in Leontyev's unit, using bodycams and drones shipped from the US with medical supplies by a Ukrainian hairdresser in New Jersey. The drones track bombs falling on Russian targets. They are operated by people who once had regular jobs, but now look death in the face every day. There is an IT analyst, a furniture salesman, a dairy farmer. Watching it, you can't help but wonder: could I do that? Do I have what it takes? Leontyev says the message is about resistance – ordinary people defending democracy. It shows the best of Ukrainians, he says. 'In dark times, kind people shine. All these people joined as volunteers. They are not only defending their families; they came because they felt responsibility in the face of history. This battle is a battle between totalitarianism and democracy. It's not the frontline between Ukraine and Russia. It's the frontline through whole world.' Porcelain War has been nominated for best documentary at the Oscars; the couple's stay in the US has been prolonged once again. A win would make the world their audience, up there on stage to accept the award, wouldn't it? They nod. But Leontyev is modest about the achievement. 'I never thought we'd be nominated. I don't feel like it's mine. Behind the film is the bravery of every Ukrainian soldier and the resilience of every Ukrainian civilian. It's the nomination of every Ukrainian.'
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Porcelain War' directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev on their inspiring story of art and resistance in Ukraine
For Porcelain War directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev, their Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature is more than just validation of their work — it's a testament to the courage of everyone involved, especially given the incredible risks they took to share their stories. Amid the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, three artists defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Leontyev, Anya Stasenko and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. More from GoldDerby First look at Zendaya in 'Euphoria' Season 3, Kendrick Lamar cashes in Super Bowl show, and more of today's top stories How the Oscar-nominated 'Nosferatu' makeup and hair team, costume designer created Count Orlok and his doomed love Oscars Best Production Design breakdown: Why nothing can best the 'Wicked' land of Oz Bellomo and Leontyev recently took home the Directors Guild of America Award for documentary filmmaking — and Porcelain War was also recognized with nominations from the Producers Guild of America and the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC). 'It's really special to receive recognition from our peers, from people who are creatives,' Bellomo tells Gold Derby (watch the video interview above). 'I share this for Andrey Stefanov, who's our cinematographer. He is an oil painter by trade. He's never used the camera before. It's not just his first film. This is the first footage he's shot, and he's nominated for the ASC award. So, for him, it is a personal triumph to, within a war zone, learn a new medium and translate his instincts as an artist into cinema.' Leontyev not only serves as a director on the film, but is also one of the personal subjects of the documentary. 'I was serving in the Ukrainian army when we filmed Porcelain War,' he says. 'I was able to work on Porcelain War only because my unit completely supported us. They trusted us. And when I would pick up my camera, someone would pick up a rifle in my place. It's a special kind of responsibility, and I'm so happy I had this opportunity to not only share our personal experience as artists, but these regular, civilian, peaceful people who came to the army to defend their independence and to protect their culture and identity.' The origins of Porcelain War trace back to before the conflict, rooted in a mutual appreciation for art. Bellomo reminisced about how the project began: 'One of our producers grew up under Russian oppression in communist Poland. About eight years ago, she discovered Anya and Slava's work, and she was so moved by their figurines because they reminded her of home. She shared them with me, and I was blown away. I couldn't believe that something so small could contain such huge stories. And the four of us actually began to work together on an animation project.' When Russia invaded Ukraine, Bellomo called Leontyev and Stasenko to see if they were safe and to find out when they were leaving. Bellomo recounts, 'Slava said, 'Oh, we're going to stay. We're going to keep making our art at night.' I said, 'What are you doing during the day?' And he told me, 'I'm in the Ukrainian Special Forces, and I'm teaching civilians, everyday people, peaceful people, how to use weapons.'' Bellomo wanted to empower the artists to tell their stories, sending cameras to Ukraine via a network of volunteers. Despite being 6,000 miles apart and facing language barriers, Bellomo and his team of producers set up an impromptu film school over Zoom. 'Andrey knows where to put his canvas, and so he knew where to put the camera,' Bellomo explains. 'We had a deep collaboration, and what they learned to capture became Porcelain War. It's really a story through their eyes and in their voice.' Unique artistic methods, particularly the integration of animation, played a crucial role in expanding the narrative's dimensions, as Bellomo explains: 'A lot of times, in documentary, you'll hear people say, 'Oh, we want to do an animation scene,' but that's just adding something on. Their language, the way they make sense of the world around them is through painting. Anya and Slava created these three figurines that could be a time machine for the camera. They bring us into their peaceful past in Crimea. They look at the first days of the war without us needing to show news footage because that just creates a distancing. This is a personal testimonial.' 'Animation gave us amazing opportunity,' Leontyev adds. 'We have a language to tell about the terrors of war without showing them like the news does. News gets old quickly. It's a little bit senseless to film extra news footage. But animation gave us this language and also this amazing opportunity to show our past and make visual our dreams for the future. And for Anya, it was also a completely new experience [to show] her artistic language and bring new stories.' As the Oscars approach on March 2, both directors are focused on the broader impact of their work. Bellomo states, 'For us, it comes down to only one thing — this story is something that people must witness. It gives you an opportunity to see something that you don't see in the news. It gives you an opportunity to recognize that the notion of a foreign conflict is a misnomer. This affects all of us. And the most amazing part of it is that they're choosing hope. They're choosing creativity. They're choosing to affirm their identity, their culture. It's a very inspiring story.' SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby How the Oscar-nominated 'Nosferatu' makeup and hair team, costume designer created Count Orlok and his doomed love How 'Defying Gravity' took flight: The untold story from 3 'Wicked' Oscar nominees 2025 Oscars race scorecard: 'Anora' regains momentum with DGA and PGA wins Click here to read the full article.
